


Christmas Shopping

by padfootagain



Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 11:44:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17001021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootagain/pseuds/padfootagain
Summary: Ben helps you through your mission to find gifts for your friends. But he uses the moment to propose Something you were not expecting…





	Christmas Shopping

**Author's Note:**

> Christmasy fluff! Hope you like this!

The snow was covering the streets of London. A white layer of soft ice, little snowflakes falling around you. You smiled at the sight of the frozen droplets in Ben’s dark hair, his warm breath drawing patterns of smoke across the wind.

You were thankful for him to have accepted to go shopping with you for Christmas. It was always dull. You were never inspired enough to find gifts for all your friends and always ended up with a headache and shitty gifts. But with Ben’s help, you reckoned that you had a chance to go through this whole shopping chaos without too much wounds.

You heard him softly humming as he wrapped an arm around your waist to draw you closer to him, and you giggled as he pressed your hip against his, not stopping his walk through the busy street.

“Why are you so damn happy?” you asked him with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged, a grin badly hidden on his lips.

“Can’t I just appreciate a lovely afternoon with my girl?” he asked back, winking at you with mischief all over his features.

You laughed.

“It’s a freezing afternoon!” you argued.

“It’s still a lovely afternoon nonetheless. Look, it’s snowing! Don’t you find that a bit magical? I love London under the snow. Everything looks calmer then, have you noticed? Noises are shushed, people are moving more slowly through the streets, less cars are driving at a crazy speed… Suddenly, the whole world shushes and slows down. We need more moments like that. Moments when it feels like we have time. Do you see what I mean?”

You tenderly smiled at him, nodding and wrapping an arm around his back.

“I love snow too,” you nodded. “And I love spending this day with you.”

He smirked.

“Good. Because you’re dragging me in all those shops when we could just enjoy the snow along the Thames eating Fish & Chips…”

“You volunteered, Ben!”

“I did not.”

“You did. You told me that if I was too desperate about all this Christmas thingy, then you would come with me.”

“Yes, but I didn’t really want to be dragged in the mess, I was just being nice.”

You both let out a laugh.

“Well, now you know that it’s dangerous to offer me anything, I will probably accept.”

“Noted,” he kept on laughing, the warm sound wrapping around you like a blanket on your heart.

You kept on walking down the street until you reached this old bookshop you and Ben loved so much. The air inside was warm and burnt your cheeks after the cold wind of winter. It smelled like old books and the warm fire in a hearth. It felt like a soft place to walk into.

“So… a book for Charlie, right?” Ben asked you, shaking the snow away from his dark locks.

“Indeed,” you nodded and walked further into the shop.

You walked through the bookshop for a moment, looking at the books on the shelves and looking for inspiration.

“What about this one?” Ben asked you as he walked to you and handed you a book. “I don’t think he has this one.”

You took a look at the book by Philip K. Dick and searched through your memories, trying to guess if your friend already owned that book. He was such a fan of old science fiction books, but you couldn’t remember seeing The Man In The High Castle in his collection. And now that you came to think of it, it was surprising…

“No, I don’t think he has it. That’s a good idea!”

“I think so myself. Should we take it then?”

“Sure. We should look for another one for you to give him though, I’m stealing this one!”

You laughed, but your laughter died in your throat as you looked up at Ben. He was biting the inside of his cheek, clearly hesitating to speak. He nervously swung his weight from one foot to the other, looking down at the book and clearly avoiding your gaze.

“Ben? What’s wrong?” you asked softly, your voice soothing but he could hear the worry in your tone.

“Nothing. I was just wondering…” he spoke in a hesitant tone. “What if we… bought this one together?”

You frowned a little.

“Like… a common gift? It’s not that expensive…”

“Like… offering gifts as a couple and not just individuals this year.”

“Oh.”

Your mouth hung slightly open, and you needed several seconds to process Ben’s offer. Your mind was racing, and yet you couldn’t comprehend the meaning of his simple words. He stared at you with anxiety painted all over his features, and he clenched his teeth upon his lower lip.

“But if you don’t want this to be happening, then I’ll just look for another book,” he went on. “It’s completely fine. I just thought… after all, we’ve been together for a while now, so…”

“I think…” you interrupted him, reading the truth in his chocolate eyes. “I think that’s there’s something else though. There’s more to it than just buying a book, right?”

Slowly, Ben nodded, looking at the coloured cover again.

“I think so.”

“I think we should… grab a coffee and talk about it.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be such a big deal…”

“It was. Wasn’t it? There’s something more to it, right?”

Again, Ben slowly nodded.

“Alright, there’s a Starbuck not far from here, let’s go there,” he offered. “You should buy the book though…”

“Nevermind about that.”

You walked out of the bookshop and back into the street. The snow had intensified, and you tightened your scarf around your neck to shield you from the frozen wind. Ben offered you his arm to help you walk through the slippery snow. You reached the Starbuck that was two streets away, and you hurried inside, the air growing colder and colder as the day decayed. You had forgotten your gloves, and your fingers were turning blue with the cold. Ben finally noticed, and he took off his own gloves and hurried to wrap his fingers around yours to warm them up while you chose your coffee. You gave him a tender smile in response.

After you chose and paid for your hot beverages, you settled at a table in a corner of the shop where you thought you could have a bit of privacy. You wrapped your hands around the hot cup, the warmth a bit too much and slightly hurting, but you were still relieved that it flooded through your frozen hands.

“Okay… we should… get straight to the point,” you stuttered slightly.

“I… just thought that perhaps we could save the bother to look for a gift coming from me and another coming from you for our friends this year, that’s all,” Ben answered.

But he was fidgeting with his cup of coffee, and you knew that he wasn’t really honest.

“There’s something else, though.”

He shrugged.

“I just… I want us to go further.”

He stared at you, his intense brown eyes hypnotic and capturing your soul in an instant. And there was no way for you to escape. Actually, it was a good thing, because you didn’t want to escape, you wanted to remain trapped there forever, it was a sweet prison to be locked into.

“We’ve been together for two years, it's… more than time,” Ben went on, reaching for your hand across the table.

You slowly nodded.

“How far do you mean to go? Just to offer a couple of gifts with both our names written on them?”

He took a deep breath, before diving.

“What would you say about… looking for a place for the two of us?”

You held your breath without noticing, your heart skipping a beat.

“You… you want to live with me?” you asked in a shaking whisper.

“Yeah… I mean, if you want to. I know it’s kind of a big step, but to be honest, I feel like we should have taken it a long time ago. Because… I really love you, Y/N. I love you, and I want to build something with you. More than just dating, I want to build a life with you. So… would you like to do that? To live with me?”

You struggled to refrain your tears, not really knowing while the salty things were rising to your eyes, but finding hard to control them anyway.

“I feel ready to do that,” you nodded, your voice shaking a little with emotions as you tightened your hold on his hand. “Maybe you’re right and we should have done that a while ago. But you were often away…”

“And yet, despite how often I’m away, we’re still here. And I’m still in love with you. More than ever, actually.”

“I love you too, Ben. With all my heart.”

You exchanged a tender smile, before leaning across the table to exchange a kiss.

“So… perhaps we should start looking for a flat,” he proposed.

You chuckled, sitting back in your chair again.

“So eager, are we?”

“It means more time with you, of course I’m eager.”

You laughed, but you knew that he wasn’t really joking.

“We should definitely look for a new place. A little bigger than what we both have. And yes, we should buy gifts together from now on. It’s silly to act like we’re not mad about each other.”

He nodded, a smirk on his face as he drank a gulp of his coffee, and you laughed as his lips were covered with cream.

“You’re adorable,” you mocked him tenderly.

“You’re such a tease!”

You spent a while with Ben inside the coffee shop, unwilling to break the intimate moment, unwilling to find back the cold air when it was so warm inside, and still a bit shaken by the news too. Or well, excited was a better word to describe your feelings than shaken. You were just floating around the room a few feet above the ground on a little cloud Ben had made for you.

But eventually, you had to walk out in the street again to go back to the bookshop and buy this rare edition you had spotted. But as you were walking back towards the shop, your arm tangled with Ben’s and your head resting on his shoulder, Ben suddenly came to a stop.

“Honey?” you looked up at him, frowning slightly.

It’s only then that you noticed that, surprisingly enough for a busy town like London, the street was empty, no strangers passing by.

He smirked, nudging you playfully.

“It’s romantic, isn’t it? The snow, the dim light of winter…”

“The freezing cold…”

You both chuckled, but your laughs turned into tender smiles as he rested his gloved hand on your cheek.

“Would you do me a favour?” he asked softly, his voice almost a whisper.

“Of course.”

“My darling, would you dance with me?”

You couldn’t refrain a laugh as he offered you his open palm, and he replied with a goofy smirk.

“I thought you hated dancing!” you mocked him.

“Yeah… but I love holding you close. It’s worth it. Besides, when I say ‘dance’, you should understand 'holding you in my arms and swaying a little’.”

You both giggled.

“So, you’re just using this as an excuse to get a hug?” you asked mischievously.

“Yes, I guess you can put it that way.”

“If you step on my feet, I won’t kiss you for the rest of the day.”

“You would never last so long without kissing me, darling.”

“Oh, really?”

“Of course. You love me too much for that.”

“That… is true… but still…”

“Drop it. You have zero leverage, love.”

“You know what? Shut up, and let’s dance.”

He grinned, holding you close to him, and despite your warm coats, him holding you in his arms was the most soothing and the safest feeling you had ever experienced. He had a gift to make you feel like nothing bad could happen to you when he held you against him. A super-power of his, without a doubt…

He started to softly sway under a song he made up as he moved, humming the tune softly in your ear, his deep voice warming you.

“I love you, Y/N,” he whispered after a while, and you tightened your hold on him, still swaying slowly under the snowflakes.

“I love you too, Ben.”


End file.
